In a new report published this week, mobile industry body The UMTS Forum www.umts-forum.org forecasts that there will be almost one billion active users of High Speed Packet Access (HSPA) networks by 2012.

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Latin America must license 3G within harmonised spectrum in line with the region's economic and social needs

Mobile industry association The UMTS Forum www.umts-forum.org has welcomed the European Commission's recent communication* on EU priorities for radio spectrum availability following the planned switchover to digital television broadcasting. With this switchover, urges the Forum, mobile operators are afforded the valuable opportunity to offer greater coverage and support more users for 3G/UMTS mobile broadband services in spectrum bands outside their current 'core' spectrum allocations.

UMTS/WCDMA accounts for two thirds of worldwide 3G total

Key players in the development of High Speed Packet Access (HSPA) restated their commitment to delivering live commercial HSPA systems in 2006 during an open workshop organised by The UMTS Forum and hosted by Orange in Paris today. Infrastructure vendors, terminal vendors, operators and regulators all confirmed their commitment to enable commercial launch of services based on High Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA) during 2006. Initial services will be launched using HSDPA while services based on improvements in uplink capabilities using High Speed Uplink Packet Access (HSUPA) are expected to be launched during 2007. Both technologies offer key benefits to existing 3G/UMTS operators as they can be easily implemented as upgrades to and in co-existence with deployed UMTS/WCDMA networks.

Russia will benefit by harmonising its Third Generation licensing and roll-out plans with Europe and other global markets, says mobile industry association The UMTS Forum. Russia's mobile operator community is ready to join the world in introduction of 3G mobile technologies, indicates the Russian 3G Association.

Third Generation mobile industry association The UMTS Forum has welcomed recommendations of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) that will facilitate the timely availability of WARC-92 frequency bands (1920-1980/2110-2170 MHz) for IMT-2000/UMTS networks.

3G/UMTS promises win/win for Africa's mobile operators and customers

The UMTS Forum has confirmed its new work plan that focuses a commitment to support the global market success of 3G/UMTS. To take its agenda forward, the cross-industry Group has re-elected its Chairman, Jean-Pierre Bienaim of Orange, and has elected a second Vice Chair, Gerry Collins of Nortel, to a two-year term.